Whatever Kikuchi Shun was thinking, Dou Tang had no clue. But he did notice something else—
Huaiyin seemed… sulky.
She kept tugging at his hand—not hard, just enough to show a hint of rebellion. It was adorable.
After Kume Chinatsu finished filming, the three of them hurried out of the café.
Once they stepped into a nearby shopping mall, Chinatsu couldn't hold back her curiosity any longer.
"Kiryu-kun, you actually know Miss Iwaya?"
"Is she famous?" Dou Tang asked, genuinely puzzled.
Standing on the escalator, Chinatsu leaned over the rail, her eyes sparkling.
"Of course! She's a fashion designer who's blowing up on Twitter lately—her following's skyrocketing!"
"Oh?" Dou Tang raised an eyebrow. "A designer?"
"Yup!" Chinatsu hopped off the escalator. "Her whole brand is cyberpunk and—uh—'techwear,' that's what it's called! Her work's amazing!"
She pulled out her phone, eagerly opening Iwaya Mei's Twitter account.
The profile picture was striking: a glowing helmet in the dark, its LED visor etched with a crimson oni mask—fangs bared, eyes fierce.
Scrolling quickly, she found a photo set and held it out to him. "Look, Kiryu-kun! This is one of her latest shoots. Cool, right?"
Two girls faced each other in the dark, their bodies streaked with glowing lines. The helmets—red oni and blue oni—glowed in fluorescent paint.
Even through the visors, Dou Tang recognized one of them immediately: the one holding a Chinese sword.
Lu Zizhen.
He'd known Zizhen did some modeling on the side, but he hadn't expected to bump into her work here.
So that's how they know each other, he thought. "It's cool," he said mildly.
Huaiyin, however, perked up.
"Wait—could that be Sister Lu? It totally looks like her!"
"You can tell even without seeing her face?" Dou Tang asked, genuinely surprised. "Her posture's really distinct…" Huaiyin mumbled, shrinking her neck shyly.
"Wow, so you do know her!" Chinatsu gasped. "Tokyo's too small!"
"Maybe," Dou Tang said, flipping through the menu of conversation with typical calm. "You two close?"
"Uh, not really," Chinatsu admitted. "But today she helped me a lot. That greasy guy kept touching me—ugh, disgusting."
She glanced at Dou Tang hopefully, but he looked utterly uninterested. Her enthusiasm deflated like a punctured balloon.
The rest of their outing went smoothly.
They wandered the mall for hours, and by the end, Dou Tang looked like a walking coat rack—shopping bags hanging from both arms.
And just to be clear—none of them were for Kume Chinatsu.
Every last item was for Huaiyin, chosen under Chinatsu's cheerful advice.
Huaiyin and Chinatsu had grown unexpectedly friendly.
After all, Huaiyin hardly had any normal friends. Dou Tang and Lu Zizhen were… anything but
normal.
By noon, the mountain of desserts in Huaiyin's stomach had finally worn off.
They ended up in a narrow side street near Minami-Ikebukuro 2-chome, where they ducked into a teppanyaki restaurant tucked between two high-rises—
Teppan Diner JAKEN.
It wasn't cheap, but Dou Tang had recently come into some money.
He didn't usually indulge in luxury, but today, he wanted Huaiyin to have the best.
"Kiryu-kun… are you sure it's okay to treat us here?" Chinatsu asked nervously once they sat down.
Dou Tang and Huaiyin sat shoulder-to-shoulder, heads bent over the menu.
"It's fine," he said casually. "I'm paying. Consider it a small act of masculine pride." Chinatsu blinked, then laughed softly.
The restaurant's décor was minimalist but tasteful—modern steel and red-glass lights shaped like inverted wine cups, glowing like embers overhead.
"Drink?" Dou Tang asked.
"Are you kidding? Kiryu-kun, we're all underage!" Chinatsu scolded.
"I figured a gal like you might already be used to it," he muttered, flipping a page. "Excuse me?!"
He ignored her.
Once they'd ordered, conversation finally drifted toward the real topic.
"Kiryu-kun," Chinatsu began cautiously, "about the Fall Guy…" Huaiyin immediately perked up, her fork frozen midair.
Dou Tang sliced into a piece of wagyū steak and chewed thoughtfully. He didn't particularly like wagyū—too buttery, too fatty.
He preferred beef that tasted like beef.
He swallowed, dabbed his lips, and asked, "What about him?"
"Well…" Chinatsu hesitated, glancing at Huaiyin. "Is it okay to talk about this in front of your sister?"
"It's fine," Dou Tang replied, half-smiling.
More than fine, he thought. I literally transform every night and sleep next to her.
"Okay then." Chinatsu leaned in, voice dropping. "Here's what I know."
"The Fall Guy appeared a little over half a year ago—last Christmas, to be exact. On Christmas Eve, a channel called Fall Guy Beats the Paranormal suddenly popped up. The next day—Christmas morning—they uploaded their first video."
"In it, the Fall Guy fought a rotten-looking bear in the mountains. His punches were so fast they blurred—and at the end, he flipped the bear and tore its head clean off."
Dou Tang quietly speared an asparagus stalk and chewed.
Beside him, Huaiyin struggled not to laugh at how unimpressed he looked.
That bear had been a zombie—an abandoned pet turned feral after feeding on corpses in some suicide forest.
Its ghost had followed him for months afterward, whining like a lonely stray.
Persistent little guy, Dou Tang thought. When he didn't react, Chinatsu pressed on.
"After that, the channel started uploading ghost-hunting videos every few weeks. They always start like horror documentaries—creepy music, haunted houses, the works."
She giggled.
"But halfway through, it just—changes! Suddenly the Fall Guy's punching ghosts left and right, and the whole thing turns into a comedy! Every time he transforms, the comments explode with memes!"
Laughing, she held up her phone to show a clip:
a fog-drenched mountain village, a faint spectral figure flickering at the edge of the frame. The buffed-up Fall Guy strode toward it—slow, menacing.
"Oh? You're not running? You're walking toward me? Toward me, the Fall Guy?!" Chinatsu burst out laughing, nearly knocking over her drink.
"Why does he have to quote JoJo?! It's so ridiculous!"
Huaiyin turned to Dou Tang, eyes narrowing. Suspicious.
Dou Tang looked perfectly innocent.
Those stupid meme poses were all Lu Zizhen's idea! If you've got complaints, take them up with her!
This has nothing to do with me!
[Bounty Event Wrap-Up – Thank You, Readers!]
You guys are brutal…
[Bounty Rules]
500 recommendations = +1 chapter
50 monthly votes = +1 chapter
50 blades = +1 chapter
5000 tips = +1 chapter
[Before the Bounty]
Recommendations: 1861
Monthly votes: 134
Blades: 45
Tips: 9464
[After the Bounty]
Recommendations: 8195
Monthly votes: 695
Blades: 507
Tips: 219,836
[Totals]
Recommendations: +12 chapters Monthly votes: +11 chapters Blades: +9 chapters
Tips: +42 chapters
Grand Total: 74 bonus chapters!
Yeah… I was shocked too.
Totally underestimated you maniacs.
Looks like I'll be pulling 10k-word days for a while.
Please don't unsubscribe—my stats can't handle heartbreak.
Thank you, sincerely, to everyone who's supported this story!
I promise I'll keep building this world bigger and brighter for you.
Special thanks to my first "Meng Lord," Hourglass-kun, who's been with me since The Secret Phase Regulations,
and to all the "drivers" who keep this book alive—without you, there'd be no "pending chapters."
Thank you, truly, for every vote, every comment, every laugh. Let's keep walking this road together! Woohoo!
Reader group: 101669559.
Now, keep those votes coming—bad stats kill good books!
[Author's Note – Break, Situation, and Preview]
Break:
I've been pulling too many all-nighters researching for realism, and my throat and sinuses are staging a rebellion. Taking a day off to recover—sorry, everyone. Updates resume tomorrow.
Current Situation:
Something happened today (you all probably know what). While I rest, I'll reread and adjust earlier chapters to tighten continuity. Tense times ahead—thanks for sticking around.
Preview:
When twilight falls and the golden sun bleeds into shadow, the time of monsters begins. Engines will roar through Ikebukuro, and the howls of Oni Island will light the night.
In the director's mind, everything dances on her fingertips—she'll erase all who threaten her design, dragging that walking hell deeper into the dark at the cost of someone's blood.
But what she doesn't know—
is that her "characters" are far stronger than she ever imagined.
In the night's heart, the hero will rise again— carrying with him destruction…
and the storm.
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
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